How It Is That India and Iran Get Along

What’s behind India’s determined push to improve ties with Iran? A thirst for oil and gas is only part of the story, says one scholar of the region, who views the diplomatic maneuvering as part of a broader plan by New Delhi to assert its influence in Central Asia. The evolving India-Iran détente that has slowly deepened since the end of the Cold War generally has been cast as a reflection of India’s fast-rising need for fossil fuels. India currently imports some 7% of its crude oil from Iran, and supports the construction of a natural-gas pipeline from Iran across Pakistan to India.

But Iran and India in fact share a host of other commercial and military interests, says a Washington Quarterly piece by C. Christine Fair, a senior research associate at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan organization funded by Congress with a mandate to promote peaceful resolutions of international conflicts. As India seeks to expand its influence in Central Asian countries like Afghanistan and counter Pakistan’s weight there, the government hopes Iran’s diplomatic and cultural ties to the region will help that mission.

While India fell into line with U.S. wishes and voted against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005 and 2006, the votes caused considerable controversy at home. Polls show Indians have a more positive view of Iran’s role in the world on average than other people. Although an Iran armed with nuclear weapons concerns many Indians, they tend to believe Iran deserves civilian nuclear technology.

In addition, both India and Iran are uncomfortable with U.S. dominance in the world. The governments also share concerns about what they view as Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban, and India shares with predominantly Shiite Iran a fear of the rise of Sunni Islamic militancy in Central and South Asia. The countries have cooperated militarily, conducting two joint naval exercises. They are jointly upgrading a 135-mile road in Afghanistan that will improve India’s access to Afghanistan via Iran. New Delhi’s diplomatic maneuvering has sparked concern in Washington, but Ms. Fair recommends that the U.S. embrace India’s ties to Iran as a way to encourage a resolution to the diplomatic showdown over Iran’s nuclear program. — Robin Moroney